Five wave energy projects to continue to next phase of EuropeWave
Press Release - 22 September 2022
Following the competitive Phase 1 of EuropeWave’s Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP) programme, five wave energy projects have been selected to develop their concepts further in the next phase.
The five successful wave energy projects are:
These projects, progressing to the second phase in the innovative ‘Phase Gate’ process, will share a budget of €3.6 million over the next nine months to continue the development of their wave energy device concepts. This phase will focus on the front-end engineering design (FEED) of a scale prototype device intended for open-water trials during Phase 3.
Tim Hurst, Managing Director of Wave Energy Scotland (WES), commented: “EuropeWave is about propelling the wave energy sector further towards commercialisation. We have now reached a significant programme milestone with the announcement of the five most promising technologies that will proceed to Phase 2.
“Scotland’s collaboration with our European partners and the five successful technology developers means we have an ideal platform for supporting Scotland’s and Europe’s ambitious net zero targets, all while fostering greater openness, standardisation and risk-sharing.
“The EuropeWave consortium looks forward to supporting this progression.”
Endika Aldaiturriaga, Project Coordinator from Ente Vasco de la Energia (EVE), added: “It is inspiring to see that the technologies hosted under Phase 1 have shown excellent progress and produced high-quality Phase 2 proposals. This makes EVE confident that the programme is on track to demonstrate, through Phase 3’s open-sea deployments in real sea conditions, that wave energy can play a part in delivering the goals set in the Basque Government’s Estrategia Energética de Euskadi 2030.
“The participation of EVE in the EuropeWave project, along with our Marine Renewable Energy (MRE) Demonstration Support Programme and other incoming initiatives, demonstrates the Basque Country’s commitment to playing a very active role within the MRE sector, consolidating itself as a prominent actor in supporting the development and demonstration of the most promising technologies.”
In the third and final phase of the EuropeWave PCP, three prototype designs will be deployed at the open-water facilities of Biscay Marine Energy Platform (BiMEP) in the Basque Country and European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Scotland for a 12-month demonstration and operational testing programme.